The March of Wales refers to an area north to south along what is now the border between England and Wales. This region was first penetrated by Norman barons after 1066. Although the Welsh fought to hold their ancient kingdoms, the Normans were securely established by the mid-1200s. When, in 1282, Edward I killed the most powerful Welsh ruler, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, independent Wales was conquered. Some areas became Crown possessions, while others were distributed to Marcher lords. This created a Marcher aristocracy that shaped the culture of the region for the next three centuries. Read More
In 1536, with the Act of Union, Wales was formally annexed to England by Henry VIII, sweeping away the Marcher lordships and creating a fixed English-Welsh border.
Professor Helen Fulton at the University of Bristol is currently pioneering a highly innovative research project to establish a cultural history of the medieval March. Rather than producing a political or administrative account, this research will use varied methods to weave together history, literature, geography and linguistics.
The project will create a rich record of the region and test the hypothesis that there existed a unique ‘Marcher’ culture that has gone unrecognised in scholarship. Professor Fulton and her colleagues focus on the period between 1282 and 1536, when Marcher lords held major political and social power in both Wales and England.
The residents and subjects of the lordships were largely Welsh, and this created a deeply divided nation. While many Welsh people were loyal to their lords, they also suffered discrimination at the hands of their colonial masters. Anti-English sentiment can be found throughout Welsh writing in the 14th and 15th centuries, exemplified by the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr in 1400.
Existing scholarship on Marcher manuscripts has traditionally been segregated based on the current geography of Wales and England, regardless of language or context. This means that the deep connections between Marcher poetry, prose, history, science and prophecy created on either side of the contemporary Welsh-English border has not been properly explored.
Professor Fulton and her colleagues aim to change that, using a range of innovative research methods to bring these cultural artefacts together.
Using archival research, the team aims to find and analyse documents and manuscripts from the region. They will create a searchable database of literary texts, manuscripts, charters, and official government records, enabling scholars to identify interactions and trace connections between specific people, property and communities.
The database will include a prosopography of the people of the March, listing the key players among the English nobility and Welsh gentry and describing the common characteristics of this diverse group by means of a collective study of their lives. The team will also draw on digital humanities and cultural geography to create new and accurate maps of the Marcher lordships.
Once completed, Professor Fulton’s project will produce an unprecedented resource on complex Marcher society, and provide cutting-edge tools to explore wider questions about medieval border regions.
